Alexander B. Gray is the Chief Executive Officer of American Global Strategies LLC, an international strategic advisory firm that he co-founded with former National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien. In addition to the day-to-day management of the firm, Mr. Gray’s wide-ranging practice includes the defense, aerospace, maritime, and technology sectors.
Mr. Gray most recently served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff of the White House National Security Council (NSC), where he directed the daily operations of the National Security Advisor’s immediate office, as well as the budget, personnel, and security functions of the NSC.
Previously, he served in the White House as Special Assistant to the President for the Defense Industrial Base at the National Economic Council (NEC), the principal Executive Office of the President (EOP) official responsible for matters impacting the defense and manufacturing industrial base, and as the first-ever Director for Oceania and Indo-Pacific Security at the NSC.
Earlier, Mr. Gray was a Member of the 2016 Presidential Transition Team at the U.S. Department of State and served as Senior Advisor to former U.S. Congressman J. Randy Forbes (R-VA), a senior Member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Mr. Gray, a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, is a Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC); a Senior Nonresident Fellow at the Global Taiwan Institute (GTI); a member of the Nixon Seminar on Conservative Realism and National Security, sponsored by the Richard Nixon Foundation; and a Senior Advisor at the Marathon Initiative. Mr. Gray was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR) in Taipei, Taiwan and has served as an international election observer for Bangladesh’s 2024 parliamentary elections. He currently serves as Chairman of the Oklahoma China Readiness Working Group, convened by the Oklahoma Council on Public Affairs (OCPA).
Concurrent to his leadership at AGS, Mr. Gray serves as a Strategic Counselor at Ballard Partners, a nationally-recognized government and public affairs firm, and sits on the Advisory Board of Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD), an equipment manufacturer for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard, and the Board of Directors of Citizen Capital, an Oklahoma City-based merchant bank.
His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, The Washington Times, The Oklahoman, National Review, Newsweek, The National Interest, The Hill, The Weekly Standard, Naval War College Review, Strategic Studies Quarterly, and the Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute. Mr. Gray has also appeared on television and radio programs in the U.S., Taiwan, Japan, India, South Korea, and Australia. Mr. Gray has testified before the Subcommittee on Indian & Insular Affairs of the Committee on Natural Resources of the U.S. House of Representatives and the State Legislatures of Kansas and Nebraska. He is currently writing a book on U.S. strategy in the Pacific Islands.
A recipient of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service and the National Security Council’s Outstanding Service Award, Mr. Gray’s other recognitions include Maverick PAC’s “Future40” and OKC Friday’s “Oklahoma’s Most Powerful Young Professionals”. He has been named an “Honorary Commander” by Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City.
Mr. Gray is a Member of the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, appointed by the President of the United States to a three-year term; the Council of Advisors of the State Chamber of Oklahoma; the Board of Directors of the The Knudsen Institute for Applied Research on Surge Theory, a research institution focused on the U.S. defense industrial base; the Policy Committee of the Oklahoma Defense Industry Association (ODIA); the Board of Directors of OCPAC Foundation, an Oklahoma grassroots political organization; the Battlefields Committee of the Society of the Cincinnati, a historic and genealogical organization; and he serves on the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s (USGLC) Oklahoma Advisory Committee and Conservative Foreign Policy Study Group. Mr. Gray has been nominated by the Governor of Oklahoma to serve on the Oklahoma State Board of Education for a six-year term and is awaiting confirmation by the Oklahoma Senate.
Additionally, Mr. Gray is a member of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA); the Oklahoma Business Roundtable; the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce; Rotary Club of Oklahoma City (Club 29); the Pilgrims of the United States; the U.S. Naval Institute; the Society of Colonial Wars; and the Mayflower Society.
He is a graduate of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University (B.A. International Affairs) and attended Oklahoma State University. Mr. Gray is a graduate of Casady School in Oklahoma City.